Arrangement of valves and passages to the cylinders of steam-engines



i To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

JOHN A. REED, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

ARRANGEMENT OF VALVES AND PASSAG-ES TO THE CYLINDERS 0F STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,893, dated July 28, 1857.

Be it known that I, J OHN ANDREW REED, of Jersey City, in the county ofHudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and ImprovedArrangement of Valves and Passages for the Induction, Cutting off, andEduction of Steam to and from the Cylinders of Steam-Engines; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figures 1 and 2,are central sections at right angles to each other of one of thecylinder heads and a portion of the cylinder of a steam engine having myinvention applied. Fig. 3, is an inside face view of the cylinder head.Fig. 4 is a view corresponding with Fig. 3, of the induction valve whichis also the cut-off, detached from the cylinder head. Fig. 5, is asimilar view of the eduction valve.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in theseveral figures.

'.This invention consists in a certain arrangement of annular puppetvalves applied directly within the cylinder heads of a steamengine, bywhich, owing to the valves being brought close to the inner surfaces ofthe cylinder heads waste of steam between the valves and cylinder isobviated and by which at the same time a large area of eduction passageis obtained and a quick full opening of induction and eduction portsprovided for.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, represents the engine cylinder, which is supposed to be of theoscillating kind, having on one side a assage a, a, leading from thetrunnion B, all along one side for the induction of steam to both ends,and a passage 1), 1), leading from the other trunnion C, for theeduction of steam from both ends of the cylinder. The same constructionof the cylinder serves for a stationary cylinder, except that in placeof being provided with trunnions B, C, the induction and eduction steampipes are to be connected with rigid joints at the places now occu iedby the trunnions or at any part of the ength of the induction andeduction passages a, a, and

D, is the upper cylinder-head, havlng 1n 1ts mner face two annularrecesses e, e, and

i f, f, the former, which is surrounded by the face cut away on oppositesides to the extent of about two fourths of the circumference, (as shownat c, c, Fig. 4,) and the seat of the said valve is cut away to the sameextent, (as shown at g, g, in Fig. 3) to allow the valve to be insertedinto and removed from its seat without making the cylinder head in twoparts, the remaining two fourths of the face of the valve being capableof passing through the recesses c, c, and allowing the valve to beinserted without difiiculty from the inside of the cylinder head. Whenthe valve is passed through the recesses c, c, it is turned a quarter ofthe way around to bring the two quadrant-shaped parts of its faceopposite the similarly formed portions of the seat. In eachquadrant-shaped portion of the seat, there is a port it, communicatingwith an annular passage 01, which surrounds the valve E, and from oneside of this annular passage there is an opening 1*, which communicateswith the induction passage a, a, that runs up one side of the cylinderfrom the trunnion or induction pipe B, by which opening 3*, when theengine is in operation, the annular passage 01, is always kept filledwith steam that is ready to enter the cylinder by the ports h, h, assoon as the valve E, is raised from its seat; a very slight movement ofthe valve being sufiicient to admit the full head of steam.

In the seat of the eduction valve F, there is a grooved channel orpassage k, that surrounds the said valve, and from one side of thispassage there is an opening Z, (see Fig. 1,) which communicates with theeduction passage 6, 1), running up the side of the cyllnder. When duringthe operation of the engine, the valve F, is at the proper timedepressed from its seat, there is a free exhaust from the cylinderthrough the passage is, and from thence through the opening Z, andpassage 6, b, to the trunnion or exhaust pipe O. The opposite cylinderhead is to be constructed with a similar arrangement of passages, orts,and valve seats, and fitted with a va ve of similar character.

The induction and eduction valves are opened at the proper times duringthe operation of the engine by means of any su1table mechanism ap liedto valve stems m, m, and ,n, n, passing through stuffing boxes in theoutside of the cylinder-head, each valve having two stems. It is obviousthat the induction valve E, is capable of serving as a cutoff, to cutoff the steam at various points in the stroke. The mechanism by whichthe valves are to be operated is not shown, as it forms no part of thisinvention. Sufiice it to say on this point that such mechanism may be ofvarious Kinds. These valves, being capable of being made to come quiteflush with the inner face of the cylinder-heads, without any passagesbetween them and the cylinder, waste no steam.-

They are capable of a full opening by a very slight movement, and admitof very capacious exhaust passages. The induction valve E is nearlybalanced in every direction, either when 0 ened or closed. The eductionvalve is ba anced laterally by the action of the steam in the passage7c,-7c, that extends allaround its seat, and is balanced vertically assoon as it is started from its seat so that the steam from the cylindercan get behind it. The valves or either of them may be arranged to openand close in-precisely the opposite directions to those herein abovedescribed, without any change in the arrangement of the ports, passages,or openings. This arrangement of two valves possesses the advantage overa single ring valve which has been employed for the induction andeduction of the steam, inasmuch it admits of the oint of cutting-off toto be varied to an a most indefinite extent, while the single ring valveonly admits of the same degree of variation as the lap slide valve.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The em loyment in each cylinder-head, for the in uction, cutting off,and eduction of steam, of two ring valves with an arrangement of seats,ports, and passages substantially as herein described.

JOHN A. REED.

Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, WM. TUsoH.

